Transylvania professors bring science out of the classroom and into the taproom for West Sixth Science Pub, and the public is invited

LEXINGTON, Ky.—One of Lexington’s newest hot spots, West Sixth Brewing, is just blocks away from Transylvania University, in an old bread factory turned microbrewery and community creative space. It offers a variety of beer made on site, food from local food trucks and now…science lectures?

“In Lexington we have gallery hops, music concerts, poetry readings and Civil War roundtables, which are all fantastic,” said Kirk Abraham, associate professor of exercise science at Transylvania. “However, science topics are generally not a part of our public discourse. I wanted to take science out of the classroom and into a relaxed setting, where people who are not experts can be part of the conversation.”

To remove the academic formality of lectures in a class room, Abraham created the West Sixth Science Pub, which takes science topics out of the labs and into the taproom on the third Monday of each month from 6-7 p.m. Upcoming topics range from preventing diabetes with wine to preventing ACL injuries. All talks are free and open to the public.

The science pub concept has taken off in other states and it’s not uncommon in Oregon to have over 100 people attend a science pub talk and people are often lined up at the door when it opens. Abraham hopes the West Sixth Science Pub will generate the same kind of interest in the Lexington community. “I hope anyone who has a general interest in science will attend the events,” he said. “A topic that might be academically interesting to a university professor might also be practically intriguing to the amateur geologist or backyard gardener.”

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Kirk Abraham, associate professor of exercise science, Transylvania University

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